You know that social media is important for your business. However, you need to make effective use for it. Social media sharing is one of the most important parts of effectively using any platform to help your company grow and succeed.

There are a number of rules that you need to follow when it comes to using social media. Some of them you can skip over without too many consequences. However, these three social media sharing rules are the ones that your business needs to live by if you want to see any element of success.

Remain Relevant at All Times

Relevancy is essential. If you are not relevant to your target audience, why would they bother to read your posts or check out anything you offer? However, you can’t just undertake a social media sharing policy of anything and everything goes.

Part of this is thinking of the purpose for anything that you do online. Why are you giving your customers a link to a new product? Why are you sharing that article? Not all of your social media sharing activities will be about driving traffic to your website, content or anything else your business provides.

You may just want to add some light-hearted entertainment for your customers and clients. You may feel the need to answer some wider questions publicly to show that you do care about the industry. There is also the goal of getting more conversations going on your pages, which you should be actively seeking to facilitate.

Your Social Media Sharing Must Have an Impact

This is linked to the first point, especially when it comes to having a purpose. Your posts need to have an impact on your target audience. They could get them thinking, or make them feel the need to buy your product or service right now.

Everything you post needs to have an impact on someone reading it and you need to think about the type of impact that it will have. This is an important rule for social media sharing because it will make you think before you do post something.

While you want a conversation or debate going, do you really want to start arguments or open yourself up to hateful and spiteful comments? Do you really want people complaining about your personal views, which will cloud their view of your company?

Think before you act at all times. Consider the best way to act, and the way that will have the most positive impact at all times.

This is also about engagement. That is the only way your comments and shares will lead to more followers, likes or whatever it is for the platform you are on. This engagement could be thanking people for retweeting something on Twitter, or asking thought-provoking questions on Facebook. You may comment on someone else’s post on Google Plus, or repin someone else’s picture on Pinterest.

Consider the Timeframe of Responding

Posting in a timely manner is something you need to live by. This isn’t just about the best time to share news about a new product or service, or think about the best time to hold product demos. You need to respond timely to questions, comments and complaints that your customers may have. People will talk on social media, even if you’re ready to respond or not.

When someone raises a complaint in social spaces, you need to show that you care about their concerns and problems. Doing this publicly is transparent and demonstrates to everyone that you will strive to deliver the best customer service possible, and that you will strive to make sure their experience is a positive one.

There are times that you need to deal with things privately, but leave a message to say that you are dealing with it privately so other users know that you do respond.

You should aim to respond to every single question, comment, complaint or mention, especially if you’re part of a small business or working in a freelance capacity. Even if you have a social media team, if you have substantial followings then you may find it difficult.

[Tip: Create a system for prioritising social media sharing tasks and make personal engagement the highest importance]

Maximising your online marketing campaigns involves living by effective social media sharing strategies. The best thing you can do is interact with the community with interesting and impactful content. Prioritise your social media sharing activities towards timely engagement, as opposed to generic link sharing, and you will soon build large targeted communities.

About AuthorStuartJDavidson

Stuart is a digital marketing strategist living in Kent, UK. Stuart blogs at StuartJDavidson.com where he shares his extensive freelance and corporate marketing experiences. He is also the author of "How to Win in Social Media".

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I realised that I’m not leveraging my most valuable asset, my own knowledge and experiences. So I decided to setup this blog to share my learning’s and to provide quality advice and tutorials to those who need it.

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